First Past The Post
by Liebling
Summary: ‘People do strange things for their best friends.’ (SeamusParvati) A series of short vignettes.
1. Sheep

A/N:  Just many short vignettes, a challenge, to do a Seamus/Parvati.  Woo Woo.  Dedicated to Solarsism because this challenge was from her (she's a lovely writer…go see her work!)

'It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.'

-Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Disclaimer:  All goes to the very rich (granted, very talented) JK Rowling.

Title:  _First Past The Post_

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She sighs and grabs her trunk from the train.  He watches her.  She looks back at him and smiles a very wobbly smile.

"Patil, right?"  He looks down at her shoes.  Scuffed ebony with jade bows.

**_"Parvati,"_** she says, "it's...Parvati."

They are children now, just eleven, ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime.  Hogwarts.  He doesn't have many friends, 'cept Dean and Dean just talks about sports which has never been very fascinating to Seamus.

**_"Seamus,"_** he says finally and extends a hand, "it's...Seamus."

She drops a lavender book, wet with silver ink, and he eagerly picks it up.  She looks at him oddly and quickly grabs it from his prying hands.

"It's a diary, Seamus," she says shortly with a roll of her scarlet eyes, "and you mustn't read it."

"Oh **_right_**!"  He says, very embarrassed-like as he moves towards a big man, Hagrid.  "They want us...over here..." he gestures to the crowd.

_"We aren't sheep, Seamus."_

"We could be," he says with a weak grin.

_And even though they are not sheep, he looks like he knows his way, so she follows him._

*


	2. Always

_"You aren't playing the game -"_

_~Lord of the Flies_

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"You miss **_them_**?"  He says finally after moments of short silence.

She looks at him and wipes crystal tears away from her ruby eyes then remarks: "No, Seamus.  No, no, I don't miss them."

"They were your friends."

"_'Were'_ being the keyword, Seamus," she says sharply.

"You're going to let them go away like that?"

"You want me to chase after them?"  She demands.  Angry. Hurt.  Betrayed.  Alone.  "You really want me to do that?"

He sighs and slings an arm around her shoulder.  "I was just suggesting..."

"Well, don't."

He smiles.  "You can hang out with Dean and I."  As though offering her gold and riches and friendship and all that comes with.

"I don't want to!  I want to be alone...like...like Jocelyn!"  Her voice is childish, filled with indignation and hope that was, for a very short time, crushed.

"Jocelyn has a wickedly large nose."

"Be nice to Jocelyn."

"Okay," he chuckles.  "But the offer of hanging out with Dean and I...you know...it's always open.  There will **_always_** be a spot for you, Parvati."

"You two throw mashed potatoes at each other," she says stiffly.

"That's the fun of it!"  He exclaims childishly.  "Come with me," he says suddenly, as though it's some awfully nice secret that no one else knows of.  Maybe not even Dean.  He grabs her hand and they walk away from the walnut bench.  The one that has inky writing all over it.

*


	3. Tact

_"The truth is...I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart...and I never really got it back."_

_-Reese Witherspoon, Sweet Home Alabama_

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It would be untrue to say that Parvati Patil was a perfectly un-shallow, humble, modest person.

Because she wasn't.

She was, at many times, loud and obnoxious.  Self centered and moody.  Many a time she'd whine to any boy who would listen and proclaim: "Well, I'm awfully homesick!"  And then she'd eat a few sugar cookies, take a deep breath, and suck it up.

Unless Seamus was around.

In which case the situation was prolonged so he heard the 'series of events' over and over again and added in advice as tactfully as he could.  Which, many times, was not so tactfully.  

"So...so Professor Snape doesn't like you?"  He says, after a few moments of silence.  She crosses her arms over her chest and huffs.

"Yeah, Seamus!  That's it!  And I mean...him not liking me?  There...that's wrong."

"Of course it is!"  He says, with the passion of one about ready to be killed.  "Of course, Parvati!"

"So I don't do my homework sometimes, and so I sort of...chat, I mean communication is a gift, seriously!"

"Of course it is!"  Seamus says loudly as he raises a fist, trying to be sympathetic and failing.

_"He's just..."_

_"...totally unfair..."_

_"...a real git..."_

_"...going to die..."_

_"...hopefully."_

_"...yeah."_

Parvati, feeling much better and slightly more tired from all of the yelling grabs her books: _Hogwarts a History_ and _1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi_.  Then, she gives Seamus a sly smile and begins to retreat to the comfy dormitory.

"Have fun," he says.

"Oh loads," she mutters caustically.

"Going to do the Potions assignment?"  He asks.  Knowing the answer.

"No."

"Well, you can copy mine."

"Maybe."

She goes up the staircase and jumps on her bed, a dazed expression on her face.

*


	4. Shoes Off

'It's funny.  All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to.'

_-Catcher in the Rye_

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They often talk outside near the pond, well, it isn't really a pond anymore it's more like a large lake.  It's outside of Hogwarts, and everyone knows it, but few go…it's like taboo, unspoken.

But she likes thinking of it as a pond, it's quaint.  They take off their cumbersome shoes that their Mummy and Daddy's bought them and soak their pale feet in cool water.  She takes off her stockings and he takes off his wool navy blue socks.

"We shouldn't be out here," he says for he has a conscious.  "We should be in Charms, we skipped class..."

"Now's a novel idea to think of that," she adds caustically, "plus, Charms can wait.  Don't you like being with me?"

****

**_"We should've brought Dean."_**

"What do you mean?"  She asks, almost angry.

"We shouldn't...be alone together...it's, it's...what would Dumbledore say?  During school hours?  Me and you?  _Shoes off?_"__

She almost laughs.  She almost cries.  She almost shouts.

…it's almost just slapped her in the face.

"We're in love, aren't we Seamus?"  She asks, with a short perky laugh.

She's being sarcastic, of course he knows this, but the way she says it...like it's true.

"No," he shakes his head, "I don't much think so, silly."

"We could be," she says as her caramel colour eyes dance into the sparkles of the water.

He looks at her and smiles weakly.  "Yeah, Parvati, I guess we could be."

*


	5. Marble Cake

_'People always think something's all true.'_

_  -Catcher in the Rye_

_x_

_x_

_x_

The marble sky swirls around them like a pretty birthday cake with chocolate icing.

"Do you really think so?"  She asks in the clouded darkness.

They're outside.

Taking a walk.

And it was_ all _his idea.

She would've declined, she was in her flannel pajamas and comfortable with a book, but he says: "it's pretty out."  So she went.

Because it was pretty.

"Yeah," he says, "I really think so."

"So you and Dean had a grand ol' fight and you're willing to throw in the towel, Seamus?  No bloody way you get your bum back in there and you apologize or you punch him or you do something useful.  Got it?"

Seamus gulps slightly.

"You should've...heard what he said..." he says shaking with silent anger.

"Do you really think it matters?"  She says sourly as she pushes him back towards the castle. "No way, Dean is the **_best_** thing that's ever happened to you!"

_"--except for you..."_

"No!  Dean Dean Dean!  You know how many hours I hear about Dean?  Dean this and Dean that and Dean and I...he's your best friend, Seamus.  And you **_will not_** throw that away."

"I didn't ask for a motivational talk," he says caustically.

"Well you needed one anyway," she responds.  "I reckon it's buggin' the heck out of you for you to get up at one in the morning and force me to go outside in my pajamas so we could walk and talk.  Couldn't sleep eh?"

"Not with him in the room," adds Seamus bitterly, "I thought I would've killed him.  Maybe slit his throat?  Maybe add a bit of arsenic in his pumpkin juice..."

"Seamus!  That is your best friend in there, and if you ask me, he's probably miserable as well!"

"Good!  He deserves it!"

"There's no point when he's miserable and you are too," she says wryly.  "Dean's an amazing young man but...but part of what makes him amazing is **_you_**."

"You really think so?"  Seamus says weakly.

"Yeah!  You two are like...best friends!"

So Seamus grabs her hand and she allows him to take it.  She squeezes his hand and he squeezes back.

They're heading back to the castle.

Finally.

Parvati's eyes go towards the sky.  "Like marble cake," she whispers to him.  **_"Just like marble cake."_**

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*****


	6. Still Are

_'I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our change and cross the roads and talk real sentences. But our innocence goes awfully deep, and our discreditable secret is that we don't know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don't care that we don't.'_

_~ Dylan Thomas ~_

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"...I miss you..." she says finally, after a few minutes of awkward, forced silence.  "Lavender's been having 'Dean' problems and you know, I've been stalling on my homework and you've been with other people and…and I _really_ miss you."

He undoes his scarlet and gold tie and throws it ceremoniously over a plush chair.  "I miss you too," he adds.  "We don't see each other much anymore."

It's a hard, solid fact with little emotion added in for fluff.  She doesn't giggle at the comment; it's loaded down with substance and truth and **_serious stuff_**.

"It was supposed to be me and you, and Dean," she adds hastily. "Me and you...all seven years and for all time after."

He smiles slightly; she's sitting on the floor near his feet.  Her skirt lay out over her knees, she tucks a strand of hair away from her eyes.  He takes off his vest and sits down beside her.

"I know," he whispers into her apricot-smelling hair. _"I know, baby."_

"We were like best buddies," she adds as arrays of tears streak her candy-cane cheeks.  "Like best buddies."

"We still are," he says tightly grasping her hand.  "Still are."

And he tickles her.

So she giggles.

*


	7. Sweet Dreams

_'It's a mystery of human chemistry, and I don't understand it. Some people, as far as your senses are concerned, just feel like home.' _

_-John Cusack (High Fidelity)_

_Set during:  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

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"You aren't frightened...are you?"  He says stiffly as she pulls a purple sleeping bag right up near his.

It was said that Sirius Black _(supposed murderer)_ could've entered the castle so all students, from all houses were brought down to the Great Hall to sleep.  For safety precautions.

She sits down next to him and shakes her head delicately.  "You tell me..." she begins "there's nothing to be frightened of, is there?"

"Now that you put it like that..."

"It's like a sleepover!"  She giggles.  "A sleepover!"

"Parvati," he says calmly, coolly, "there could quite possibly be a murderer looming around in the castle."

"Yeah," she says as though analyzing the situation, "well, down with him."

She is his light.

Seamus laughs at her perspective on the series of events and peers at Dean, on Parvati's other side.

"Percy's a nazi," Dean comments dryly as he rubs his teal eyes.

"Better not let Ron know," she says with a roll of her eyes, "you know how he is with his family.  Anyway...Percy says we ought to go to sleep so _you know_...let's not."

Seamus looks at her and blinks.  "That makes no sense."

"I could do for a cup _'o'_ peppermint tea," she says, seemingly out of nowhere.

**_"Sweet dreams, Parvati."  _**

She doesn't see the way he's looking at her.  As though she was golden.  She meets his eyes and smiles sheepishly: "Night, Seamus."

They lounge comfortably inside their flannel sleeping bags at peace with the quiet chatter around them and smuggled in _sugar quills_ the students are nervously chewing on.  As soon as their heads hit the threadbare pillows, they're fast asleep.

Their elbows touching.

No one notices.

No one's looking.

*


	8. Bull

"We still have the same ideals; we've just learned to look like we don't." - Bono 

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Dean comes up behind Seamus after Potions and he just sort of...stands there.

_"_What do you want?_"_  Seamus says, "please don't ask me another question about..."

_"_...Parvati!_"_  Dean answers for him.  _"**Little Miss. Patil**_ you fancy her, do you?_"_

_"_Dean,_"_ Seamus says, _"_Parvati is a very nice young lady!_" _ But then he is taken over by laughter and promptly covers his mouth.

_"_Oh please,_"_ Dean says, _"_you fancy her...the way you look at her...the way she looks at you...the way you give her your last bit of scone..._"_

_"_I _hate_ scones!_"_  He interjects.

_"_That isn't the point!_"_  Dean goes on doggedly.  _"_The point is, she's obviously a girl you care about._"_

"Hmmm?"

_"_You care about her,_"_ he says, _"_you do!  And not only that, you love her!  You're **_in love_**, mate!_" _ He slaps Seamus on the back and Seamus coughs.

_"_You really believe in all that?_"_ He laughs, perhaps bitterly.  _"_All of that love like our _Mummy's and Daddy's_ had or thought they had or...whatever?_"_

_"_Course I believe in it,_"_ Dean says simply, taking a large bite of a sour apple.  _"'_Course I do._"_

**_"Bull,"_**Seamus mutters darkly and kicks the brick wall angrily.

Then he curses under his breath and begins walking to Charms.  Dean follows him.

_"_And plus,_"_ Dean adds, _"_when you really love someone you want them to be happy...and scones make Parvati happy!  See...you want to make her happy!_"_

Seamus snorts at the simplicity of it all and it's obvious that the above statement is the truth.

For all time.

*


	9. Cheers

_Boyd: Allow me to be the first to say that what we have done here is *not* a good thing. It's definitely not a good thing. But it was, given the circumstances, the smart play._

_-Very Bad Things_

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"Why are you going out with Roger Davis?"  He asks seriously as he toys with a strand of her hair.

"Because I _can_," she whispers, "because I _can_ and because I _want_ to and because _no one in all of my life has ever treated me like **that**._"

"Is it nice?"  He asks suddenly, "I mean, does it make you happy?"

"'Course it does," she responds as she bites her nails, "if it didn't I wouldn't do it.  Davis is a really great guy, amazing sportsman, fantastic marks...**_he's everything I've ever wanted in anyone."_**

He smiles slightly and drains his tea; she smiles at him and continues biting on her french-manicured nails.

"And he loves you?"  Seamus questioned once more.

"Oh I don't know Seamus," she says simply.

"You best make sure his intentions are clear."

"Seamus!"

"Just lookin' out for you, lass."

"Okay," she says feeling slightly ill at ease.  "If you say so, lad."

"It's sort of..."

"...wrong?"  She says, amused, her eyes dancing. "Do you think so?  You really think it's awry?"

"No," he shakes his head, "no, I just don't think it's right s'all."

"You want to..."

"...be with you?  Certainly."

"Oh Seamus," she says slightly quieter as she shakes her head.  

"I'm all for it," he says after awkward silence, "I'm _all for you_ being with Davis.  He's a good guy.  You're happy...it's great."

"Don't be ridiculous," she chastises, "you care about me more than to just let me get away like that, don't you?"

And she clinks teacups with him.

_"Cheers."_

*


	10. Kiss

_"It is dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid."_

_ - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)_

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"You want it badly, don't you?"  She asks as they walk in the moonlight, he smiles slightly and looks down on the chocolate-like mud.

"Of course I want it badly."

"Then go for it," she says, "go try out for Quidditch.  You can do it Seamus, I--I believe in you."

"But does anyone else?"

"You only need one person," she says, "you only need one person to think you're the most fantastic person in all of the world and then...and then you're complete, Seamus."

"I'm nervous," he says.

"I'll lend you my brother's Firebolt," Parvati pipes up, "you know what they say about Firebolts…"

"...they're perfect."

"I don't...I don't need--"

"-you deserve it, Seamus.  C'mon now, get with it and try out and just...go with it."

"What if I fall off?"

"You won't," she says shaking her head and picking up a yellow daisy.  The wind bites them, but they do not notice.

"My Father didn't teach me," he says, "everyone else had Father's who taught them about Quidditch and life...and the stars and…"

"Listen," she says grasping his shoulders, "you're the best bloody kid out there and you're going to just…totally rule tomorrow, Seamus.  And if it makes you feel better I shall give you a kiss for good luck."

So she does.

He reddens slightly and his eyes go towards the shimmering stars.

"Go for the glory lad," she mutters.

  
*


	11. Grandfather

_Jack Sparrow: The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that some day._

_~Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl_

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"Sorry about your Grandfather," he says dryly.

"I'm not," she says and then instantly covers her mouth.

Seamus fights back a slight wince and settles on, "well, you should be."

This sort of moral guilt isn't getting to Parvati, and he knows it.  She looks away and shrugs, looking unconcerned.

"Are you going to the funeral?" He asks, suddenly.

She meets his eyes and takes a sip of lemonade, "I don't want to, Seamus.  I really don't want to.  But Father, as much as he hated the jerk insists we all go and give the appearance of a solid front, or whatever you want to call it."

"Hmm," Seamus says thoughtfully, "well, I think you're wrong."

"Dad wants to spread his ashes near the pond near our Manor, I say no. I say we spread them right near Azkaban where the old crackpot belonged.  Never got caught, dirty bugger."

"You're quite awful," Seamus says, looking partly amused  "You really are."

"Well," she says, "that's how I feel.  I'm not like my Father...I can't be kind when I need to be, I don't forgive him, Seamus, and that's the saddest part."

"Did he torture..."

"....yes."

"Did he kill...."

"...yes."

"Did he drink the blood?"

"...yes."

"Did you love him...?"

"...possibly."

*


	12. Forbidden Forest

_'Like strawberry wine and seventeen _

_The hot July moon saw everything _

_My first taste of love oh bittersweet _

_Green on the vine _

_Like strawberry wine'_

_~Strawberry Wine sung by Deana Carter_

_%_

_%_

_%_

_They were sitting on the bleachers._

_Watching a Quidditch game, you know how those go.  Gryffindor VS Slytherin.  The game seemed to go on forever, but the two didn't notice.  She tugs on the scarf 'round her neck and he gives her his scarf as well.  Now she has two scarves, and wears them both._

_"Your neck will be cold!"  She laughs.  "Take it back, Seamus.  Although yours is far older than mine and even though the wool is coming undone I quite like it."_

_"I'm not even cold, Parvati."_

_People are all around them, smiling and laughing, cheering and booing, eating chocolate frogs and crisps.  It's early in the 'morn and the glazed mist makes it difficult to see the snitch._

_"Want to go off in the forest?"  He asks quietly.  She bites on her bottom lip and appears to be thinking._

_"I dunno Seamus, it's awfully dangerous."_

_"No one's looking," he says, "no one's looking, and it'd just be for a while."_

_"Why do you want to go so bad?"_

_"Because we aren't allowed to."_

_She smiles as he looks at her blue-with-cold lips._

_"You're awfully rebellious you know that?"  She says as she watches a bludger just barely miss Harry Potter's head._

_"For five years, Parvati, I've wondered what's in there."_

_"Well isn't it obvious?"  She asks caustically.  "Dangerous stuff.  Loads of dangerous stuff."_

_"I'm not worried," he says seriously._

_"Maybe you ought to be."_

_"Just come along, Parvati, and if you won't come with me I'll go alone."_

**_"But Seamus!"_**_  She says, so loudly that people begin to stare at the two.  Parvati smirks, Seamus looks slightly embarrassed._

_He grabs her hand and leads her down the stands, she's resisting the whole way and wonders if she should yell: "Help help!  I'm being stolen!"  Just for the heck of it._

_But she doesn't._

_Because she's always wondered what's in the Forbidden Forest as well._

_*_


	13. XOXOXO

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_Libby Reynolds:  I love you a million Swedish Fish. _

_ Daphne Reynolds: I love you a million red M&M's.                _

_ ~What a Girl Wants_

*

Parvati writes in underline (and one line italics)   * Seamus writes in bold 

**:**

**:**

**:**

Sometimes, they pass notes during History of Magic.  It's so very boring, anyway.  Parvati sits next to Lavender and Seamus sits next to Dean.  The desks are littered with ink spots and carved in names of students long past.  Sometimes they get caught passing notes, but usually they're pretty sly about it.

It's usually old parchment, or pieces of ripped up parchment from old reading assignments.  They don't talk about much.  He writes with a feathered quill and expensive jade ink, his handwriting is a mess of ink-spots and cursive.  Her inkwell is dark purple and her quill was passed down from her Mother, it's very old.  Her handwriting is neat and compact.

Hey Seamus. Tell Dean thank you for being such a good sport.  Binn's is going on and on, these lectures are so boring!

**Take notes, Parvati.  I am.  And I won't let you copy mine again!  Be a good little girl!**

I'm thirteen!  And you always let me copy your notes you know it too.  School isn't my thing, Seamus.  I'm not brilliant, and I never will be.

**What'd you get on the exam?**

Fifteen out of forty-five.

**That's awful.**

Get over it.  I hadn't any time to study...

**You had time to gossip with Lavender and kiss Davis and drink butterbeer and play cards!**

That's different.  And we weren't kissing anyway, Seamus.

**That makes no sense.  And you were, anyway!**

Yes it does make sense and there has been no snogging with Davis.  He wants to get to know me.   You just don't understand, Seamus.  You know you're smart…everyone knows you're smart.  You think people expect me to be smart?  Yeah right.   Anyway, how did you do my little genius?  I hope you did alright you were studying the whole night!  No sleep!  It's awful, Seamus.

**I got a forty-three.  And I expect you to do well!  You're quite smart, Parvati.  And Parvati, I'm sure he wants to "get to know you" too!**

Well.  That's good.  Don't flatter me, Seamus.  He isn't some disgusting young man.

**If you say so.  You ought to see the way he looks at you though.  Anyway, did you hear what Binn's just said?  The Minister of Magic used to insist that his secretary bring him five peppermint toads, three sugar quills, one and a HALF chocolate frogs and nine licorice wands every morning at seven.  Ha.  How fascinating.**

I didn't hear him.  I was too busy writing and Lavender says that you need to mind your own business about my grades.  See, she gets it!

**You really need to work on those marks.  Let me remind you that Lavender also can't tell a carrot from an apple.**

One time!  Will you ever forgive her for that?  And, don't tell me what to do, Seamus.

**Number one, no and number two, someone's got to do it!**

No they don't!

**Anyway.**

Yeah. ANYWAY.

**Put it away, put it away, he's glaring at us!**

So?

**Put it away!**

_Fine!  Love you. XOXOXO!_

**Love you too. XOXOXO.  See you after class?**

Always.  

The note is quickly stashed in between the pages of her copy of _Hogwarts a History._  Sometimes she looks at it.

*


	14. That's It

_[George has awoken Red after loosing a fight.] _

_Red Pollard: I lost? _

_George Woolf: No, you clobbered him. _

_~Seabiscuit      _

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=

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"So you and Davies broke up?"  He said as he ran a hand through his hair.  "So that's _it_, is it?"

She sort of smiled, a shaky sort of smile and coughed into her hand. "Yeah Seamus, yeah we did.  Yeah that's it."

"I'm sorry, Parvati."

"You don't have to be," she said, "you don't have to be sorry at all."  She said, perhaps sourly.

"I know," he said, "but I am anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said sharply.  "I'm fine."

"...how did it happen?"

"The break up?"

"Yeah."

"It just sort of happened Seamus," she shrugged, "it was quick."

"You're sad," he said simply.

"Maybe," she said, "maybe."

"Why?"

"It was love, Seamus. Who wouldn't miss it?"

"But it wasn't true love," he said softly.

"It didn't have to be."

They sat in silence the rest of the evening.  He sort of stared at the way the crystal tears came out of her royal-blue eyes, and she just peered into the burning hearth, sucking on a sugar quill.  She silently stomped her feet along the common room carpet, in time to the flames.

"I'm going to go to bed now," she said.

"Why don't you stay down here with me for a while?"  He said looking up from _Quidditch Through the Ages._

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said firmly.  "You're busy, I'm busy, we're both just really busy...and I love you to death Seamus but I'm hurt right now and I **_can't stand_** the idea of you seeing me like this."

_"Okay, baby."_

"Night, Seamus."

"Night."

*


	15. Seaside

****

**_Arvid:_**_  I would rather belong to any one...ANYONE, than belong to the Nazis like you do. _

_Thomas Berger: That's because you have everything backwards. Nazis go anywhere they want, do anything they want, everyone gets out of our way. _

**_Arvid_**_: Quiz time. Got your glasses on. _

_Thomas Berger: What? _

**_Arvid:_**_ It means you don't know who your friends are.      _

_~Swing Kids_

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_()_

They eat lunch together near the seaside every single day.  And they call it a seaside too, even though it isn't.  They take their trays, loaded with food and solemnly walk out by the big oak tree and eat in the shade.

Everyone wonders where they're going.

Dean forces them to say a prayer before lunch and Parvati rolls her eyes and Seamus coughs loudly but Dean still says it.

Then they eat.

"We're best buddies, aren't we?"  She asks to the two boys.

"Yes," Seamus says, "I reckon we are."

"Of course," Dean says, "never better."

They take large bites of mashed potatoes and big gulps of off colored-orange pumpkin juice and sometimes Parvati points out a cloud shaped like cotton candy and sometimes Seamus says they ought to go for a swim in the lake and Dean and Parvati laugh.

"Oh yeah," she says,  "oh yeah I'll go on in with my skirt and vest on and stockings..."

"...well you'd take your stockings off, o'course," Dean says with a nod.

**_"Dean!"_**  Seamus yells.

"What?  Stockings are just long sock things, Seamus."

"Still!"  Seamus says.

Parvati laughs.

Sometimes Dean will make odd comments about God and Heavens and Parvati sort of listens with a bemused expression on her upturned face.  Then he talks about angels and Seamus' eyes light up.

After a short lunch period they all collect their trays and walk together to Charms.

Tomorrow, it'll happen again.

*


	16. Daddy

__

_ Toulouse-Lautrec:  Things aren't always as they seem. _

****

**_Christian:_**_  Things are exactly the way they seem.   _

_~Moulin Rouge_

_#_

_#_

_#_

"But I don't want to meet your Father!"

"Get over it," Parvati commented dryly, "he wants to meet you...wants to see us...me...you know."

"He's mean.  You got it from him, didn't you?"

"Mother isn't exactly _sweet as pie_ either."

"Ha," he said, "that's real comforting, Parvati."

"They'll love you," she said, kissing his cheek, "how could they not?"

"Do you think your Father wants to meet the guy that is currently with **_his baby_**?"

"Yes," she said with a nod, "I most certainly think so.  Daddy's a fair man...but he isn't a nice man."

"Platform 9 and 3/4," she commented "I'm comin' home...so glad it's Christmas."

"Do you like your home?"  He asked.

"I like Hogwarts," she said finally, "but I miss my folks."

"And your brother," Seamus said miserably, "I'll have to meet Todd too."

"Todd will probably be up in Bulgaria," she said stiffly, _"on business."_

"How old is he, again?"  Seamus asked.

_"Nineteen."_

The rest of the duration the two sat quietly and read such odd books as:_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Magical Me.  _Then Seamus delighted himself in taking out a mound of chocolate frogs which the two ate quickly.

It was a long ride.  But the company was amazing.

Soon the train came to a screeching halt and Parvati grabbed her trunk and dragged it off the train, Seamus in tow with his beat-up trunk.

She smiled and locked hands with him.

"Well, come on now," she said encouragingly, "Daddy's waiting."

**_Daddy._**

*


	17. Dancing With The Wind

_Young Melanie:  What do you want to marry me for anyhow? _

**_Young Jake:_**_ So I can kiss you anytime I want.   _

_~ *Sweet Home Alabama*_

**_;_**

****

**_;_**

****

**_;_**__

_"Well," she said, "it's snowing."_

_"That it is, sport."_

_"You know," she said, "muggle father's call their muggle son's 'sport' so what's with you calling moi that?"_

_"I don't know," he said with a shake of his head, "sort of catchy, ain't it?"_

_"No," she said, "I think it's stupid."_

_"Get over it, sport!"_

_She laughed and grabbed a heavy cloak.  "Snow angels," she said, "we'll make snow angels then come inside and have hot cocoa!  It'll be lovely.  And Dean too."_

_"Why don't you make snow angels with Lavender?" He said, obviously not too keen on the idea._

_"Because I want to make snow angels with you!"_

_Seamus muttered a string of curses under his breath and went to the boys' dorm to collect Dean.  Dean was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a Gryffindor sweater and a scarf._

_"You'll get cold, Dean," Parvati warned._

_"Yeah, well, whatever," Dean said, trudging alone, already shivering.  "I won't be out there for long."_

_Parvati 'tutted' in a superior manner and the three made their way outside.  The snow falling on her golden hair as she danced with the wind._

_Dean and Seamus stood watching her as they tried to hold back snickers._

_"Well, come on you two," she said playfully, "come dance with me."_

_"This is bizarre," Dean murmured._

_"Certainly," Seamus commented as the two went to join her._

_Dancing with the wind._

_*_


	18. Always Famous

_Laugh it off_

_Let it go and_

_When you wake up it will seem_

_So yesterday_

_So yesterday_

_Haven't you heard that I'm gonna be ok_

_~ 'So Yesterday' sung by Hillary Duff _

__

"I just want to be famous," she said, "is there something wrong with that?"

He looked at though he was considering this and said blandly, "no, Parvati there is absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"Famous, Seamus," she said, "and wouldn't that be the best?"

"Eh," the young man commented, "nothing I care about."

"And it isn't to be rich, either, it's just to do it, do you know?  **_Oh god_** I wish Lavender was here instead of on 'hols, Lavender _would_ understand!"

"Hey little lady," Seamus said, "calm it down, will you?"

"Just want it so bad--" she said "--I always figured I'd find my passion.  And perhaps it'd be charms, or dragons, or fashion or music and I've never really found that, Finnigan.  And I want to be a star, Seamus.  And I want it so bad I wonder what I'd be if I didn't have that to hold on."

And she sounded so desperate that he threw a protective arm around her.  "Parvati," he shook his head, "whatever you do I want you to remember--_until the day you bloody die_--that whether you become famous or whether you live on a street side all your life, you're still you and that doesn't change nothing, Parvati. Doesn't change _nothing_."

She smiled and leaned into him. "Doesn't change _nothing_, Seamus?"

"Doesn't change _nothing_, Parvati."

And in Seamus' eyes--she would always be famous.  

**Always famous.**

*


	19. Star & Artist

**"...and they don't have to be hip and cool anymore, which I think is a godsend — you make really bad choices when you are trying to be hip." ~ Jodie Foster**

"-=

-=

-="       

There was a part of Parvati that just wanted to look cool in front of other people.  Stars sparkled, some people wanted only to sparkle too.

And there was a part of Seamus that just wanted to paint. And to only paint for the rest of his life.

She was a star, and he was an artist.

The star and the artist.

"A lot of the time Seamus...I try to act cool in front of other people. You know, fun."

"I know Parvati," he whispers to the wind.  Because he doesn't miss anything.

She smiles, sort of. "It's sad, isn't it? How I feel the need to act cool in order to impress no one special?"  She's being very honest now, and she's sort of embarrassed to tell him all this.  Her whole life story wrapped up in a not-so-pretty package.

People do strange things for their best friends.

"Nah," he wants to laugh now. For someone of only twelve years she was certainly strange. "You're fine, I mean..."

"I don't have to act cool with you, Seamus."

"No, Parvati. No, you don't."

He's never been just an artist to her.

"-=

-=

-="


End file.
